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Metro Detroit median home sale prices up 41% in November over a year ago

Median home sale prices in Metro Detroit continued to improve in November, increasing by over 41 percent in November compared with a year ago, although total sales fell by nearly 8 percent.

According to data released Tuesday by Farmington Hills-based Realcomp II Ltd., prices in the four-county region increased from $85,100 in November 2012 to $120,250 last month.

Wayne County experienced the largest price increase (44.2 percent), jumping from $48,600 a year ago to $70,101 last month. Macomb County (42.5 percent) had the second-highest median price increase, improving from $80,000 in November 2012 to $114,000 last month. In Oakland County, prices increased by 27.7 percent from $132,000 a year ago to $168,600 last month. Livingston County prices increased from $160,000 to $189,500, an 18.4 percent bump, according to Realcomp.

Darralyn Bowers, owner of Southfield-based Bowers Realty and Investments Inc. and Realcomp treasurer, said the continued increases are a result of shrinking inventory on the market.

Market inventory decreased across the region by 12.3 percent, with 15,088 homes available last month compared with 17,197 homes in November 2012, according to Realcomp.

“If you have the demand without the supply, it’s going to cause the prices to go up,” Bowers said. “We had an oversupply before, and now we are getting to a balanced market, and you’re seeing prices coming back.”

Bowers said the drop in total sales in the region by 7.7 percent was largely a result of the time of year and lingering buyer uncertainty caused by October’s federal government shutdown.

November was the latest in a string of positive months for the metro real estate market.

In October, median home sales prices increased by almost 42 percent in the region. In September, the median sale price of homes in Metro Detroit rose by 48 percent from September 2012, while sales in the region increased by 7.1 percent. That followed August’s 55 percent sales price increase over August 2012 figures.